Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, coming off his photo finish with Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses, is now in second place among Republican voters in the race for the partys 2012 presidential nomination.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, taken the night after the caucuses, shows Romney again in first place with support from 29% of Likely Republican Primary Voters, followed by Santorum with 21%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who led the pack in late November with 38% of the vote, now runs third with 16%. Texas Congressman Ron Paul, the third place finisher in Iowa, picks up 12% of the vote, up from eight percent (8%) in the previous survey.

The two remaining Republicans in the race, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, each earn four percent (4%), marking essentially no change from late November. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

For Romney, however, his level of support has returned to where it was in October, after dropping to 23% at the beginning of November and 17% by months end as support for Gingrich surged among Republicans looking for a more conservative candidate to deny the former Massachusetts governor the nomination.

Santorum who many now see as the chief anti-Romney candidate has rocketed from four percent (4%) in the previous survey and one percent (1%) at the beginning of November.

Romney is now viewed favorably by 68% of Republican voters, closed followed by Santorum who is seen that way by 63%. Fifty-two percent (52%) have a favorable opinion of Gingrich. The other candidates have higher unfavorables than favorables among GOP voters  Perry (49%), Huntsman (47%) and Paul (59%). One-in-four voters (25%) still say they dont know enough about Huntsman to even voice an opinion of him.

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The national survey of 1,000 Likely Republican Primary Voters was conducted on January 4, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Its important to note that just 34% of likely GOP primary voters say they are certain of their vote at this time. Fifty-five percent (55%) say they still could change their mind, and 11% dont have an initial preference yet. Those certain of their vote include 44% of Pauls supporters, 43% of those who back Romney and 40% of Gingrichs voters. Just 30% of those who support Santorum are certain of their vote at this time.

Evangelical Christian support was considered key to Santorums strong showing in Iowa, and the former Pennsylvania senator leads among Republican voters who are Evangelical Christians with 28% support. Romney and Gingrich are next with 21% and 18% support respectively among these voters.

Romney is the top voter-getter among other Protestants, Catholics and Republicans of other faiths, with roughly one-third of the vote in each group.

Among Republicans who consider themselves members of the Tea Party, Santorum is on top with 29% support, followed by Romney and Gingrich who earn 24% each. Romney is far ahead among non-Tea Party Republicans with 34% of the vote.

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The national survey of 1,000 Likely Republican Primary Voters was conducted on January 4, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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